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About Amborella trichopoda

Amborella trichopoda is a small, tropical shrub endemic to New Caledonia. It is the only species in the genus Amborella, which is the only member of the family Amborellaceae. As the only living species on the sister lineage to all other flowering plants, it is an important reference for studying plant evolution. Individual Amborella trichopoda are usually sprawling understory shrubs, although occasionally they grow up to eight meters high. They have evergreen leaves and small, white to yellow flowers. The species is dioecious; female plants producing carpals and males producing stamens, and individual plants can change sex between flowerings. Unlike nearly all other flowering plants, they do not posses vessel elements for water conduction. Amborella's genome is a relatively compact 870Mb, arranged into 13 chromosome pairs.